Dear Grant County, Beat editor,
For weeks, Better Together New Mexico has documented how Emerge recruits candidates, trains them, connects them to an influential political network, and helps move them into public office.
Now we must confront what that political pipeline means for New Mexico.
Emerge New Mexico identifies 118 of its alumni as currently serving in elected or appointed office. Candidate training itself is not the problem. The concern is the governing philosophy repeatedly advanced by many Emerge-trained officials: more mandates, more taxes, more regulation, more government programs, and less freedom for families and businesses to make their own decisions.
The policies are no longer theoretical.
New Mexico employers are already required to provide up to eight days of paid sick leave each year. Emerge-trained lawmakers helped pass that mandate. They have continued returning with proposals for a government-administered paid family and medical leave program offering up to 12 additional weeks of leave, funded through mandatory contributions.
Supporting working families is an important goal. The disagreement is about who should control workplace decisions.
We believe employers should compete for good employees by offering better pay, flexibility, benefits, and working conditions. Businesses that fail to take care of their people will lose them—and they should. That is accountability through free enterprise.
The alternative is allowing politicians to impose the same mandate on every employer, regardless of the business's size, industry, financial condition, or benefits already offered. The same pattern appears across other issues. New taxes, payroll deductions, utility surcharges, telecommunications fees, environmental regulations, and government programs are each presented as an answer to an important problem.
But families and businesses do not experience these costs one at a time. They experience them together—in every paycheck, utility bill, insurance premium, and trip to the store.
We believe strong families are the foundation of a strong state. New Mexicans should be able to earn a good living, build a business, own a home, and raise their children without being taxed and regulated at every turn
We believe free enterprise creates opportunity and lifts people out of poverty more effectively than government dependency.
The political organizations advancing the opposing vision are organized, well-funded, and working year-round.
That is why Better Together New Mexico exists.
BTNM investigates political networks, explains complicated legislation, exposes the consequences of harmful policies, and gives citizens the tools to speak directly to their elected officials. Our statewide network has already helped stop paid family and medical leave mandates, Clear Horizons, tax increases, and other damaging proposals.
We do not work for politicians or political insiders.
We work for New Mexicans. Emerge has built its political pipeline. Better Together New Mexico is building the informed, organized, and determined movement needed to hold it accountable.
Read the complete article HERE.
The future of New Mexico will be determined by those who stay informed, speak up, and take action. Together, we can hold political insiders accountable and protect the freedom and opportunity New Mexico families and businesses deserve.
Standing with you for New Mexico.
Carla Sonntag
President & CEO
P.S. Want to catch up on past news or learn about Emerge? Articles are posted HERE.
